San Bernardino’s top elected and appointed officials take their show on the road today, leaving behind City Hall for a three-day retreat at the National Orange Show Events Center.

City Manager Charles McNeely planned the retreat, the fulfillment of a condition he requested in his contract with the city when he was hired eight months ago. By Saturday, when the retreat wraps up, McNeely hopes the City Council will have built consensus on strategies to address the problems that he believes prevent San Bernardino from making progress on several fronts.

As McNeely sees it, the city has a finite period – perhaps just two or three years – to make the changes needed to encourage economic development and improve residential quality of life.

If this is the case, city leaders must seize this opportunity to update their practices and policies so economic recovery won’t pass San Bernardino by.

“If we don’t get our act together we will decline further and we can’t afford that,” McNeely said when he and Mayor Pat Morris stopped by The Sun’s offices to talk about the retreat.

Chief among McNeely’s concerns are the organizational and operational challenges in a city with a charter that requires the election of a mayor, seven city council members, an attorney, a clerk and a treasurer but does not adequately explain how city government should function.

Absent those policies, McNeely said, there is confusion among elected leaders and frustration among city staff members.

Clearly, a well-run city is a priority for McNeely, and we applaud his willingness to delve into housekeeping matters such as who hires rank-and-file city employees (right now, the council must sign off on all hires) and how the city processes business and building permit applications.

We also appreciate McNeely’s efforts to seek out ways to ramp down the rancor that often defines debate at City Hall. The retreat will give elected officials a much-needed opportunity to discuss “rules of engagement,” as McNeely calls them, to promote more civil discourse at the dais.

On their own, none of these matters are insurmountable. It’s only when you look at the whole picture that you see the magnitude of the mountain city leaders are preparing to climb.

With McNeely leading the way, we have hope that the mayor and City Council members will find their footing and set San Bernardino on a new course for prosperity.